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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: faith desmond <faith1_desmond@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:35:59 +0000
Subject: hello

Hello, My name is faith, it is my pleasure to write you today. actually, I
got your contact information through the International public records while
searching for friendship, I will appreciate your friendship, because I
believe that good friend is a Gift of God.It will also please me to know
more about you if it is your wish too. you can write mail to me through this
email address,i will be happy to reply you with some pictures of me for more
correspondence.
Hope to hear from you,faith.

Anti-fraud resources: